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our latest page on the website devoted to views, personal opinions
and all the latest news from our members.
ALISON receives her M.A.
Alison
is always very reluctant to write about herself so we thought we should
mention her latest achievement (one of many). Here is the article
that appeared in a recent edition of the Pontefract & Castleford
Express.
"Alison
Drake, chairman of Castleford Heritage Trust, has achieved an MA in
heritage management, with distinction, from York University.
Alison
said "I'm thrilled to finally get my masters. At my age it was
quite a struggle. It was not possible at the time of the studies to
give up any of the projects we are involved with at the trust. We
delivered the Castleford Heritage Festival last year just as I was
finishing my dissertation, so I was really under pressure.
I thought at one stage I would never get it finished as Channel 4
were pressing all of us involved in the Castleford Project regeneration
scheme to do extra filming for the final cutting of the programmes.
My family and friends pulled me through it all with their generous
patience, support and encouragement and I know I could not have done
it without them.
I found
the course very interesting and it provided information for my work
with the trust. What is most satisfying to me is the way the work
of the trust with local groups and schools goes from strength to strength.
We want the whole community to be proud of local art and heritage
and take this forward to help us make a stronger community and a better
place for all of us and our children to live in."
__________________________________________
THOMAS
the BARGE
Alison
has also asked that the following information also be added to the
site.......
As many people will now be aware, there is a barge ('Thomas' as he
is known locally) on the weir of the river Aire directly beneath the
new footbridge. The old barge was washed down the river during a particularly
heavy flood and has been 'stuck' on the weir for several years.
On her regular school visits Alison often talks about 'Thomas' and
the children seem delighted by her stories and always want to know
about the barge and its history.
Recently Alison received an email explaining the origin of 'Thomas'
and of its bilder. Here is that information which we hope you will
find interesting.
"Thomas
was built for my grandfather, Walter Holden, at John Harkers, Knottingley,
in 1934, to the drawings of my father, Thomas Holden, Her intended
role would have been towing one or two boats from the Lancashire coalfield
to Bankfield Mills at Barnoldswick (now Rolls Royce). This was the
largest single storey weaving shed in Lancashire and had at least
four boiler houses, which I would have thought would require between
500 to 700 tons per week. (Dewhirsts at Skipton burnt 250 tons with
one boiler house) During her building, a dispute at the mill over
a penny or twopence an hour resulted in a stand-off and the mill closed
down - and no work for Thomas. This was one of the few times Grandfather
gambled wrongly. Thomas was extremely strongly made, with closer spaced
frames than any similar boat. She cost about a third more than the
Cheshire-built boats. The hull alone cost £1,000.
The envisaged engine (a 42 hp twin Widdop) had to be cancelled, and
the old engine and boiler from her previous incarnation, Steamer 39,
was fitted.
Grandad bought two L&L steamers in the 1920s, nos 39 and 41, had
them cut in two and shortened to short boat length. No 41 was rebuilt
during the war and became steamer Cedric, later MV Cedric, after my
next older brother. She is buried in the foundations of the defunct
arm below Office Lock towards the arches. Incidently, my brother Cedric
and my eldest brother, Thoams William, whom the boats were named after,
are both living and are both retired headmasters.
My father had designed Thomas with a sharper bow and very fine lines
aft which would have given her a draught of about 3 feet 2 inches
or so. The extra weight of the engine and boiler dropped her to about
3 feet 9 inches. A ton of concrete was put in her bows and she finished
at 12 inches forrard and 3 feet 7 inches aft. The concrete made her
stronger than ever. She also had a mini keel of about 4 inches which
together with her fine lines enabled her to head-up into cross-winds
when towing empty, around places like East Marton, when other boats
were blown ashore, due to her grip of the water. On her maiden voyage
to Skipton Gasworks, depicted in the well-known picture (Grandfather
used this picture on all his letter headings and envelopes). The well-known
character, Joe Bridges, ran full pelt into Thomas at Snaygill with
his Canal Transport steel diesel boat and collected a decent sized
dent in his bows. He said 'I just wanted to see how 'ard she wor.
I didn't think she wor that 'ard!" Thomas had a bit of black
paint missing from her top whisker.
Every bad winter from 1934 to 1950, Thomas broke the ice from Skipton
to Bingley, and sometimes to Armley. Eight or nine boats would follow
us. She could break ice up to three or four inches in thickness, and
you could hear the ice whistling and cracking half a mile in front,
with big chunks flying out from her propellor.
Below Leeds she was very fleet footed, one of the few small barges
to keep up with the tugs and petrol tankers. She had only the smaller
six-inch-stroke V engine, yet she towed as well as others with the
eight-inch-stroke due to her shape. When loaded, she could have pushed
herself under at full power. Only a very strong man could shove her
tiller over when towing at full power. When empty or loaded, she could
tow a barge as fast as the other boats solo.
A notable exploit was her 'shaming' of the Aire & Calder showpiece
no expense spared ice breaker Alpha. Tremendously strong, with girders
down her bows, a huge 120 hp Widdop (4 x 30 hp cylinders), engine-room
telegraph type controls and a large prop enclosed in a protected by
iron bar cage. She was newly built to clean all the ACN waterways.
She preceded our Thomas up Barnsley Canal from Wakefield. She left
the top lock of the Walton flight almost an hour before my brother
Arthur (half brother, depicted on the photo steering about 17 years
old in 1934. Interestingly, he was the Arthur whom we named the famous
Arthur after. A superlative boatman, on joining the Navy he was put
to handling the Admirals Barge very shortly after. My second eldest
brother, John, brought out of grammar school at 15 years, did five
years then joined Bradford City Police, to become an Inspector. Both
are sadly now deceased.) After about three or four miles, at Royston,
they caught up with Alpha who had stopped at the lift-up road bridge
and could not get going again in spite of full power and washing water
right over the bank from her propellor. Our Arthur pipped his whistle,
forged past them, and broke the ice for the last mile or so to the
loading staithe. I understand the three man crew of Alpha were stamping
with anger. Thomas' great handicap was her lovely shape. She could
only carry 40 tons at the max guaranteed depth of four feet. My father
started negotiating for the Mersey after the war because she was the
best carrying boat on the canal (52 tons at under four feet). Although
she was not as strong or well built as Thomas, Mersey (Arthur) was
the better carrying boat.
I would think the cost of recovering Thomas would be prohibitive,
yet she has proudly borne the hammering of the combined flood power
of the Aire and the Calder, summer and winter, for 25 years or more,
proving her superb build and heritage. Truly a special boat."
WALTER HOLDEN
